Mosaic House, Detail
Showing posts with label sculptural. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sculptural. Show all posts
Saturday, September 16, 2006
multi-coloured dragon
the multicolored dragon statue/fountain (water is coming out of his mouth) in the middle of the double stairway at the entrance to Parc Guell
gaudian gorgeousness
more gaudian gorgeousness from the roof of La Pedrera. This is actually one of the stairwells that bring you out onto the roof - mosiac masterpiece!
Friday, September 15, 2006
Mosaic mask of Tezcatlipoca
The skull of the Smoking Mirror
This mask is believed to represent the god Tezcatlipoca, one of the Aztec creator gods. He was also the god of rulers, warriors and sorcerers. His name can be translated as 'Smoking Mirror'. In fact, in many depictions during the Postclassic period (A.D. 900/1000-1521) his foot is replaced by a mirror.
The base for this mask is a human skull. Alternate bands of turquoise and lignite mosaic work cover the front of the skull. The eyes are made of two discs of iron pyrites set in rings made of shell. The back of the skull has been cut away and lined with leather. The jaw is movable and hinged on the leather.
Turquoise was sent as tribute to the Aztec capital from several provinces of the empire. Some of those provinces were located in present-day Veracruz, Guerrero and Oaxaca. The turquoise was sent as raw chunks or as cut and polished mosaic tiles decorating a variety of objects, such as masks, shields, staffs, discs, knives and bracelets. We know from a tribute list issued by the emperor Motecuhzoma II that ten turquoise mosaic masks, made by skilled Mixtec artisans, were sent each year from a province in Oaxaca.
Thursday, September 14, 2006
There are no evils in Nature, there are only evils of Man - Hundertwasser
"When man thinks he has to correct nature, it is an irreparable mistake every time. A community should not consider it an honour how much spontaneous vegetation it destroys; it should rather be a point of honour for every community to protect as much of its natural landscape as possible.The brook, the river, the swamp, the riverside wetlands as they are, the way God created them, must be sacred and inviolable to us. Correcting a stream only has evil effects, which are expensive in the end: the lowering of water tables, the destruction of forests, the transformation of large areas into steppes, no regeneration of the water, which runs off too fast. The river wetlands can no longer fulfill their sponge-like function: the absorption of excess water and slow feedback in dry spells, like a good piggy bank in times of emergency. The regulated brook becomes a sewer. Fish die, and there are no fish in the brook because they cannot swim through the regulated channel. Floods, with all their devastating consequences, all the more after regulation. Because too much water runs off too quickly, converging in great quantity without any chance of being absorbed by the earth and the vegetation. Only a stream with a high waterline flowing irregularly can produce pure water, regulate the water household and conserve the fish and animal populations to the benefit of man and his agriculture. Now, almost too late, this age-old adage is being recognised and the courses of rivers and streams, which had been straightened in concrete channels, are being destroyed in order to restore the previous irregular state. What irony! So why regulate a stream if you have to deregulate it afterwards?"
Hundertwasser, May 1990 http://www1.kunsthauswien.com/english/hundertwasser.htm
Hundertwasser, May 1990 http://www1.kunsthauswien.com/english/hundertwasser.htm
Gotta love the man... great info on Hudertwasser and his architecture here http://www1.kunsthauswien.com/english/hundertwasser.htm
Philadelphia's Magic Gardens - Isaiah Zagar's Book
Great book, fabulous photos... you can help support Isaiah's projects by buying a piece of his artwork at http://www.isaiahzagar.org/stuff.html he also conducts workshops, check it out!!!
Philadelphia's Magic Gardens The Art of Isaiah Zagar
The full color book featuring stories and pictures of Isaiah's work.
http://www.isaiahzagar.org/books.html
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